What are you reading now?

Day 73 of #LiveWell2017

When I was 8 years old, I read the Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Then I read it again, and again, and again. It’s the first book I remember reading (with the exception of the “see dog run” primers of my first grade classroom). I was so captivated by that gate and that little girl and that secret garden that I just had to read it over and over again.

When I was a teenager, I would read books about teenage girls and then talk incessantly about them to my mom as we cooked dinner together. In college, a boyfriend introduced me to Tolkien and The Hobbit. Every one of these books opened worlds of possibilities to me and made me want to read more.

As an adult, I’ve turned from fiction to nonfiction. For every one fiction book, I read 10 nonfiction books. In them I learn skills, explore different ways of thinking, improve my science literacy, and find great recipes. Every book I read helps me see the world in a new way, understand more about how it works, and raises my awareness to new levels.

Every book changes my life in some small way – even if that way is to simply appreciate the use of a word or a turn of phrase by a particular author. Often, reading provokes me to action – to do something that helps me live a better life, help someone else, or work to change the world. That’s one of the reasons I love volunteering at the Children’s Book Bank, which puts books into the hands and homes of children who may not otherwise have any books.

I’m currently reading Dan Harris’ book, 10% Happier, and just finished Sam Harris’ Waking Up. Similar topic – meditation – but very different discussions and points of view.

Today, I am grateful for books – and authors who so skillfully write them and librarians who so carefully curate them.